‘High School Musical’ star visits school

Excitement was in the air at P.S. 203 Oakland Gardens Elementary School in Bayside when “High School Musical” star Monique Coleman came on Friday, February 8 as part of a prize won by a student.
Over the summer, 10-year-old Jessica Hayden was watching television when she saw a commercial for the “Verizon Get in and Win With Disney Connection ‘High School Musical 2’ ” sweepstakes. The prize was a party and special appearance by one of the stars of the film.
Hayden, a fourth grader and resident of Whitestone, said that she enters many contests but never wins. She decided to enter this sweepstakes and found out in October that she had won. A total of 200,000 kids throughout the nation entered it.
“First, when I heard I got it, I was really excited,” Hayden said. “It’s just [been] really exciting waiting for this moment.”
When Hayden told her friends Kristen Pulley and Simone Gmuca, they said they did not believe it at first.
On Friday, February 8, third, fourth and fifth graders gathered in the auditorium for an assembly with Coleman, who played Taylor McKessie in “High School Musical” and its sequel. Coleman once went to school at P.S. 30 in Jamaica.
After a question and answer period, the school’s chorus surprised Coleman by performing a song from the movie.
“It’s really exciting to me any time I get the opportunity to come out and speak to kids and to, in my opinion, kind of encourage them or inspire them to be able to [pursue] their dreams and pursue their goals,” Coleman said. “This school especially has done a phenomenal job with their arts department and really grooming very talented, focused, disciplined, awesome kids.”
Following the assembly, the Disney Channel and Verizon treated Hayden’s fourth grade class to a special party that included games and food. The students also had group photos taken with Coleman and were given autographed pictures.
“It was awesome that she (Hayden) won for herself but to be able to bring this inclusive experience to her peers is really extraordinary,” said school principal Carole Nussbaum.
Hayden said that she thought Coleman was “really nice.” She, Pulley and Gmuca said that the best part was getting to hang out with Coleman and get autographed pictures.
Coleman said that she thought the students asked intelligent questions and that their performance was excellent.
“I get enormously inspired by doing events like this, seeing that there’s still hope for our children and that there’s hope in the education system,” Coleman said.